Alive and kicking today, Loudness–a Japanese heavy metal and glam metal band–has a stellar thirty-five year history having been formed in 1981 by guitarist Akira Takasaki and drummer Munetaka Higuchi. They are the first Japanese glam metal music band signed to a major U.S. label, and have produced 26 studio albums, along with nine live albums. Loudness rocked their audiences hard throughout the 80s and 90s, garnered by their breakout hit “Crazy Nights”. According to Wikipedia, the original line-up reunited in 2001, producing seven more albums until drummer M. Higuchi’s untimely death from liver cancer on November 30, 2008. Higuchi died in an Osaka hospital at age 49 and was mourned throughout Japan.

Loudness claimed as their roots other Japanese glam rock and shock rock acts such as BowWow, and Anthem. Other acts linked with them are Lazy, Sly, Ezo and X Japan. After forming the essence of the group, Loudness signed with record label Nippon-Columbia in 1980 and released The Birthday Eve. Most would agree, however, that the absolute metal star in this band is the astounding shred-guitar virtuosity of Akira Takasaki: the trademark sound of Loudness for decades. And the album that all metal fans recognize from this band as a “must-have” is Thunder in the East. It was in 1985 through the TwistedSister co-manager Joe Gerber that Loudness signed a record deal with Atco, and made history as the first Japanese heavy metal band to have a major recording contract. Thunder in the East was recorded in the USA and was quite notable, receiving heavy rotation on MTV with “Crazy NIghts”. These albums followed: Lightning Strikes (1986), Hurricane Eyes (1987), Soldier of Fortune (1989), and On the Prowl (1991). More recent strong releases include Metal Mad (2008) and King of Pain (2010). One more thing: glam metal and heavy metal music fans still debate the meaning of “MZA” in that video! Some say it has a secret meaning; others say it is just filler. What do you say? MZA! What??

Breaking into the largest English-speaking music market meant the native Japanese members had to learn English! Here is how Akira Takasaki described it in an interview with MyGlobalMind.com heavy metal online magazine:

Shadow Editor: “How much of a challenge was it to make a complete record in English for the first time?”

Takasaki: “I think it was difficult for a Japanese speaker to master. It took us over a month to record a song. Even if the song performance was good, the pronunciation wasn’t right or vice versa. It was tough.”

Akira Takasaki also briefed MyGlobalMind about Loudness’ seasoning in the infamous Los Angeles Glam Metal Scene. Here is how Takasaki described it:

Takasaki:“At that time LA metal was in its prime when we were there. Every night after recording at Sound City we would go to drink at the Rainbow. Drink every night, party dude style like a typical living in that scene.I also went to the beach and to music stores a lot. When it comes to playing live, wherever we go it’s not that much different even now. The reaction from American fans is easier to read compared to fan from other countries. “

Despite the loss of drummer Higuchi, Loudness announced in 2009 the release of The Everlasting, which included drum tracks by Higuchi before his death. The new drummer, Masayuki Suzuki, is featured on King of Pain and subsequent albums (See Wikipedia) Loudness is on tour in 2016. Go to: http://www.loudnessjp.com.

More Japanese translation: ラウドネスは、バウワウ、及び国歌としてのルーツ他の日本のグラムロックとショック岩行為として主張しました。彼らと一緒にリンクされているその他の行為は、レイジー、スライ、蝦夷とX日本です。グループの本質を形成した後、ラウドネスは、1980年にレコードレーベル日本コロンビアで署名し、誕生日イブをリリースしました。何十年もラウドネスの商標音：ほとんどは、このバンドにおける絶対的な金属スターは高崎晃の驚異的なシュレッド・ギター妙技であること、しかし、同意するだろう。そして、すべての金属製のファンは「なくてはならない」として、このバンドから認識したアルバムは、東でサンダーです。これは、ラウドネスがAtcoのとレコード契約を締結し、主要なレコーディング契約を持っている日本初のヘビーメタルバンドとしての歴史を作ったことトゥイステッド・シスター共同マネージャージョー・ガーバーを通じて1985年にありました。東サンダーは、米国で記録され、「クレイジー・ナイツ」とMTVでヘビーローテーションを受け、非常に顕著でした。これらのアルバムは続く：落雷（1986）、ハリケーン・アイズ（1987）、フォーチュン（1989）の兵士、およびプロール（1991）で。より最近の強力なリリースでは、メタルマッド（2008）と痛みの王（2010）が挙げられます。もう一つ：グラム・メタルやヘビーメタルの音楽ファンはまだその映像で「MZA」の意味を議論します！いくつかは、それが秘密の意味を持っていると言います。他の人はそれだけで充填剤であると言います。あなたは何を言っていますか？ MZA！何？？

Dokken are an American glam metal band formed in 1978 inLosAngeles, California. The original members ofDokkenare: DonDokken(vocals), George Lynch (lead guitar), JuanCrocier(bass guitar), Mick Brown (drums). The singles/songs that are best known byDokkenare “Just Got Lucky”, “Into the Fire”, “In My Dreams”, and “Its Not Love.” The best known albums byDokkenare: Breaking the Chains(1981),Tooth and Nail(1984),Under Lock and Key(1985), andBack for the Attack(1987). According to Blabbermouth.net, Frontiers Records signed a recording contract withDokkenfor their most recent studio album, which was recorded in 2012,Breaking Bones.

In the beginning DonDokkenhad a band playing gigs in the L.A. area (around 1976) with the name “Airborn” but name change ensued after it was discovered there was already a band with that name recording. In 1981, DonDokkenflew to Germany to sing background vocals forScorpionsvocalistKlausMeinewho was having vocal issues. [For this and more band history, see Wikipedia.] While in Germany, DonDokkensecured a recording contract withCarrereRecords, releasing an initial version ofBreaking the Chainsunder the name DonDokken.

The bandDokkentoured withBlue Oyster Cultin 1983 and alsoScorpionsin 1986. JuanCrocierleftDokkenin 1983 to joinRATTand was replaced by JeffPilson.Dokkenalso opened for these major headliners:Judas Priest, AC/DC,Aerosmith, andDio.Dokkenfinally got several “big breaks” on two occasions: recording “Dream Warriors” forNightmare on Elm Street 3, as well as theMonsters of Rocktour in 1988 withVanHalen, ScorpionsandMetallica.

The band has endured years of fighting and criticism over not only GeorgeLynch’sdeparture in 1989 (to formLynch Mob) but also due to the fact thatDokkenband members refused to allow George Lynch to rejoin the band in 1990 just prior to a major world tour! Lynch sued the band for $1 million but the band prevailed. For more on each side of this story go to eitherhttp://www.dokkencentral.com orhttp://www.blabbermouth.net/news/lynch-my-problem-with-don-dokken-has-always-been-that-he-was-not-an-honest-trustful-person/.*

Alice Cooper was born Vincent Damon Furnier in 1948; he is an American rock singer whose career spans more than four decades. Alice Cooper was the inventor of the genre of rock music known as “Shock Rock”, which he achieved by incorporating a mixture of horror and vaudeville with garage band punk lyrics into his act. According to Wikipedia, Alice Cooper used “guillotines, electric chains, fake blood, boa constrictors, and plastic baby dolls” in his act. Although Alice Cooper’s brand of music is more in the distinction of conceptual rock or hard experimental rock, when you view the video from the 1970s UK performance by Alice Cooper(from the then-popular TV Show “Top of the Pops”), you will see there are also origins in Alice Cooper’s music trending towards Glamour Rock and Glitter Rock. And in the spirit of Election Year politics, the song is “Elected” -timeless classic from Alice seeking YOUR VOTE FOR PRESIDENT! Well, not really but listen to this: Alice Cooper was so innovative in this style of music that he was often compared to another ground-breaking Glam Rock innovator of the 70s, David Bowie.

Alice Cooper’s roots are in Detroit, Michigan; the band broke into the mainstream of rock music with the 1971 hit “I’m Eighteen” and 1972’s hit “School’s Out”. The commercial peak of the Alice Cooper band’s success was with 1973’s album Billion Dollar Babies. (For this and the following information , see Wikipedia.) In the year 1975, Alice Cooper came out with one of the most conceptual albums of the time, called Welcome to my Nightmare. Ask any rock fan from the 70s era, and most likely they have a copy of that album. In 2011, Alice Cooper released Welcome to My Nightmare 2, and in 2011, the original Alice Cooper band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The original Alice Cooper band members are Alice Cooper (Vincent Furnier) on vocals and harmonica, Glen Buxton on lead guitar, Michael Bruce on rhythm guitar, Dennis Dunaway on bass guitar, and Neal Smith on drums. This original band’s roots can be traced back to 1964 when Vincent Furnier at age 16 was eager to enter the annual high school talent show and gathered up some of his classmates to form a group for the show. They called themselves The Earwigs, obtained some used instruments from a local pawn shop in the Detroit area, and mimed their way through some Beatles’ songs, dressing up as the Beatles. The group won the talent show, and loved the experience of being onstage, so they formed a more permanent rock group while still in high school and called themselves The Spiders. Alice Cooper has said that the band’s musical roots include not just the Beatles, but also The Rolling Stones,The Who, The Kinks, The Doors, and The Yardbirds.

In 1966, the Spiders graduated from High School and the band scored a #1 hit on the radio

with “Don’t Blow Your Mind.” By 1967 the band was making regular trips to L.A. to play gigs. They renamed themselves Nazz and relocated to Los Angeles by the end of the year. In 1968, the band called Nazz had to change their name when they came across the fact that Todd Rundgren already had a band with that name. Furnier thought that the band needed a gimmick to succeed, and chose the name Alice Cooper, because it sounded innocent, in contrast to the band’s look and sound. Later, Cooper nee Furnier said that the name change was one of the most exigent career moves that the band made. To grab more headlines and generate more controversy, the Alilce Cooper band decided to push the concept of a male villain dressed as a murderess in tattered women’s clothing and makeup. Alice Cooper in his 2007 book Alice Cooper, Golf Monster said that his look was inspired by film, such as Bette Davis in “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane”, where Bette wears caked makeup and smeared eyeliner. (Alice Cooper at one time had difficulty with alcoholism and to become sober took up the game of golf, thereby “trading one addiction for another” hence the self-imposed title “golf monster.”

After an unsuccessful gig in California, the Alice Cooper band was approached by music impresario Shep Gordon, who arranged an audition with bizarro rock star, Frank Zappa, who was looking to add another act to his record label. Zappa told the band to come to his house at “7 o’clock” for the audition; the band mistakenly thought he meant 7am. Being awakened at 7 in the morning for the Alice Cooper band’s unique hard-rocking sound impressed Frank Z. enough to sign the band to a three record deal. Afterwards, Alice Cooper’s brand of “Shock Rock” happened by accident due to an onstage antic with a stray chicken. Alice Cooper later developed this concept of “Shock Rock” to the hilt, such as the 1971 tour which featured gothic torture models, and a staged execution by electric chair. Taken in its entirety, along with the band’s tight, sequined outfits, and Glam Rock style costumes (designed by rock fashion icon Cindy Dunaway) persuaded Warner Brothers to offer Alice Cooper a multi-recording contract.

The Alice Cooper band’s first hit was “I’m Eighteen” on the third album Love It to Death. The next album Killer featured hit songs “Under My Wheels” and “Be My Lover.” More hits followed; however, the biggest hit of all, and one that anyone who was a teenager in the 70s recalls precisely, was “Schools Out”, which reached #2 on the charts, and sold over 1 million copies. The next album was Billion Dollar Babies, featuring the hit of the same name, as well as “Elected” and “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” Around this time, the British parliament sought to ban Alice Cooper from performing! due to the stage show where Alice sported a boa constrictor snake, accompanied by the murderous axing of bloodied baby dolls.

The original Alice Cooper band’s last studio album was 1973’s Muscle of Love with A.C.’s last hit single “Teenage Lament ’74”. In 1975, Alice Cooper released his first solo album Welcome to My Nightmare. To avoid legal complications, Vincent Furnier adopted “Alice Cooper” as his legal name. What followed was a successful solo career with subsequent albums such as Alice Cooper Goes to Hell (1976), Lace and Whiskey (1977). The albums in the 1980s were not as successful, and these included Flush the Fashion (1980), Special Forces (1981), and Zipper Catches Skin (1982). Alice Cooper’s alcohol consumption began to cause considerable problems on tour, affecting Cooper’s onstage performances. During the Welcome to My Nightmare tour in Vancouver, A.C. tripped over a foot light and plunged several hundred feet onto the concrete floor amidst fans, who thought it was all part of the act. However, Welcome to My Nightmare also preceded another ground-breaking event in rock history, which was a prime-time television special called The Nightmare, starring A.C. and Vincent Price, which aired in 1975, and garnered a Grammy nomination.

The latest update on Alice Cooper, which can be viewed on http://www.alicecooper.com: After finishing up his tour with heavy metal artists Iron Maiden, and continuing to tour around the world this fall, Alice opened up a dedicated maze at Universal Studio Hollywood’s based on A.C.’s album Alice Cooper Goes to Hell. Earlier in the year, A.C. joined on allstar Glam Metal jam with Queens’ Brian May, Deep Purple’s Ian Paice, Whitesnake former guitarist Micky Moody, Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, and Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson.

This is part two of the original post on “Female Glam Rockers: Leathered-Up Queens of Noise”, and features more extensive look at three spectacular female Glamour Rockers in their own right: Joan Jett, Girlschool, and Lita Ford. As stated in the first post, these female rockers held their own with their male counterparts and as such are accepted as having “made their mark” in the fields of heavy metal and Glamour Rock acts, with astounding results musically and professionally.Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin) is an American-born rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter best known for her work with the Runaways -ground-breaking all-girl rock group in the 1970s- as well as with her solo career as rock musician with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts had a string of hits in the 80s and 90s, including “I Love Rock N Roll”, which was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 from March to May 1982. Other hits by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts include “Crimson and Clover”, “I Hate Myself for Lovin’ You”, “Bad Reputation” and “Light of Day”.Joan Jett was born in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. In her teens in the 1970s, Joan would sneak out at night with friends to attend rock concerts; she received her first guitar at age 13 from her parents at Christmas.(For this and subsequent info, see Wikipedia).Later, Joan’s family moved to West Covina, California (L.A. county) which gave Joan the opportunity to pursue her rock and roll dreams. Suzi Quatro was Joan’s idol, and Joan, as a teenage fan, would wait in the lobby after Quatro’s rock concert perfomances to try to meet the star. Legend has it that they did meet, but details on this encounter most likely would be found on Jett’s website http://www.joanjett.com which has many details about the writing of particular songs bythe Runaways as well as with the Blackhearts. Jett adopted Suzi Quatro’s style of shag haircut, leather, and tough-girl rocker stance, musically and lyrically. Around age 16, Joan Jett began hanging out at the only Glamour Rock nightclub in the Los Angeles area called Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco, where she met the man who would become the Runaways’ producer, the eccentric Kim Fowley. The rest is an astounding history, and see former post here for more information on The Runaways legendary musical sound and “mass hysteria” tours as the only all-teenage all-girl rock band then, and even to this day do they hold that distinction!In Spring 1979, Joan Jett was in England pursuing a solo career and recorded several songs with Sex Pistols band members’ Paul Cook and Steve Jones. Jett then returned to L.A. to complete an obligation to finish a film about the Runaways called “We’re All Crazee Now” and during the shoots met Kenny Laguna who then was instrumental in helping Joan form the Blackhearts. She placed an advertisement looking for band members as “looking for three good men” and from these auditions recruited Gary Ryan on bass, Eric Ambel on guitar, and Danny “Furious” O’Brien. After recording demos, the band’s efforts were rejected by 23 major labels, so they decided to form an independent record label “Blackheart Records” and put the record out themselves. Watch the video post on this page to see this documented to the band’s great single “Bad Reputation”.Girlschool are a British metal band, originating out of the “New Wave British Heavy Metal Scene” in 1978, according to Wikipedia. Girlschool was also frequent collaborators with contemporaries, heavy metal rockers Motorhead. Formed from a school band called Painted Lady, Girlschool enjoyed success with three metal albums in the early 80s but soon lost momentum after that. The principle members of the band are Kim McAuliffe (rhythm guitar, vocals), Dinah Williams (bass guitar), Deidre Cartwright (lead guitar, vocals) and Tina Gayle on drums. Kim McAuliffe was famously quoted as saying “The reason we were all girls is we couldn’t find any blokes to play with us.” Girlschool’s first three albums were Demolition (1980), Hit and Run (1981), and Screaming Blue Murder (1982). Their first single “Take It All Away” was released in 1978, and “Please Don’t Touch” was released in 1981 with Motorhead.Lita Ford was born Lita Rossana Ford to a British father and Italian mother in London, England. She moved with her family to the U.S. at the age of four and began playing guitar at age eleven. In 1975, she joined the all-girl band The Runaways as lead guitarist. Lita’s lead guitar skills are on par with her male counterparts in heavy metal, and thus, she has toured with Glam Rockers Poison, Motley Crue, Britny Fox, as well as heavy metal rockers Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Antrax and Iron Maiden. Lita Ford’s first album was released in 1983 entitled Out For Blood; however, Ford scored the most commercial success with her album entitled Lita which went Platinum in the U.S. and Gold in Canada with singles “Kiss Me Deadly”, “Back to the Cave”, and “Falling In & Out of Love”. You can see Lita Ford on tour in 2012 with Heavy Rock group Def Leppard and Glam Metal band Poison.

Lewis Allan “Lou” Reed is an American rock musician out of New York City, who originated an alternative form of rock music with threads of Glam rock, Glitter rock, Avant Garde, German and French expressionism, Bohemian pop art, as well as punk rock/metal music. all integrated in a beautifully complicated mixture that is often mind-bending and surreal.

During the time that Lou Reed, and with the original group called The Velvet Underground made records, their music was (and still is) unlike anything anyone has ever heard. According to Wikipedia, the Velvet Underground were a “commercial failure” in the late 60s, but due to their dedicated cult-status and following, their albums are regarded as some of the most significant in modern rock music history.This enduring underground following continues to this day with the collaborative efforts in 2011 and 2012 between Lou Reed and the heavy metal group Metallica. Lou Reed was the Velvet Underground’s principal songwriter in the 1960s (until the band disbanded in 1970) and as a songwriter Reed incorporated subjects of “Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll” –a well-known mantra to heavy metal fans today, but was strictly taboo in that formative era (the 1960s). Rolling Stone magazine wrote, “Lou Reed helped invent punk rock music while writing about femme fatales, black angels, and heroin.”

Lou Reed was born into a Jewish family in Brooklyn and grew up in Long Island. (For this and the following info, see Wikipedia.) Reed reportedly learned to play guitar by listening to the radio, and played in different bands in high school. His first recording was with a Doo Wop group called The Jades. In 1956, Reed received ECT (electro-convulsive therapy or “shock treatments”) as a teenager to try to “cure” his bisexuality. Reed wrote about the experience in his 1974 song, “Kill Your Sons.” Lou Reed began attending Syracuse University in 1960, studying journalism, film directing, and creative writing. In 1961, he hosted a late night radio program on WAE, featuring doo wop, rhythm and blues and jazz.

In 1964, Reed moved to New York City and began working as an inhouse songwriter for Pickwick Records. In 1964, Reed scored a minor hit with “The Ostrich”;

Pickwick assembled a band for Reed around this song, hoping to have a hit, called The Primitives, which included Welsh musician John Cale. (Wikipedia) Reed and Cale lived together on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and after inviting Reed’s college acquaintances guitarist Sterling Morris and drummer Maureen Tucker to join the group, The Velvet Underground was formed. Rolling Stone described The Velvet Underground’s sound as “dissonant, poignant art songs”. The group caught the attention of avant garde photographer, pop art visual artist Andy Warhol, who decided to became their benefactor and general manager, introducing them to high-art concepts and his Bohemian lifestyle. Lou Reed told Rolling Stone, ” Warhol was one of the greatest people I’ve met in my life,” Reed remarked. “It’s hard to conceive where we would be without him. If he had a gallery opening he took us with him. He fed us.”

Lou Reed’s songs began to take on more of the reflection of Warhol’s artistic lifestyle to great success, but there was conflict in the group when Warhol stated the Underground should have a chanteuse (female singer), suggesting European model and singer Nico. Not all of the band members agreed with this, and their debut album was entitled The Velvet Underground and Nico, to note that Nico was not actually part of the group. Although the album did not initially do well, Rolling Stone has said it is one of the most influential albums of all time. Between 1966 and 1970, the Velvet Underground recorded four “classic, highly influential albums.” (Rolling Stone)

Rolling Stone magazine wrote that Lou Reed’s departure from the Velvet Underground was “bitter” (http://www.rollingstone.com) in August 1970. Reed briefly took a job as a typist at his father’s tax accounting firm (see Wikipedia) but a year later, however, he signed a recording contract with RCA, which included top session musicians from the rock group Yes. In 1972, Reed released Transformer, which David Bowie and Mick Ronson co-produced. It yielded Lou Reed’s only top 20 hit “Walk on the Wild Side” (1973), an ode to some of the flamboyant Bohemian artists surrounding Andy Warhol. With Bowie’s aid, Reed transformed into Glitter Rock, his signature camp style including bleach-blond hair and black fingernail polish. “Glam Rock was the rage and Lou Reed was a central figure,” according to Rolling Stone. Another single from the album was “A Perfect Day”. There was a falling-out between Reed and Bowie, but their friendship was reconciled in 1997 with a Madison Square Garden appearance by both, and Bowie’s collaboration on Lou Reed’s album Raven (2003).In the1970s, Lou Reed’s best-known albums were Berlin(1973), Sally Can’t Dance (1974), and Rock N Roll Animal (1975).Rock N Roll Animal became Reed’s biggest-selling record to date (Wikipedia).

Lou Reed’s music recording, performance, and artistic career is extremely prolific. Please visit Wikipedia, RollingStone.com, or LouReed.com for more extensive history. Currently, Lou Reed and Metallica have a musical collaboration called “LULU”; the website http://www.loureedmetallica.com describes it as “inspired by German expressionist writer Frank Wiedekind’s plays”.

Kiss (often written as KISS) is an American rock band that brought about their own unique form of Glitter Rock and Metal Rock music; they were formed in New York City in 1973. What characterizes their brand of American Glam Rock is their facepaint -often looking like real-life comicbook heroes- the constant themes of sex and seduction in their song lyrics, their catchy, iconic guitar riffs, and their astounding stage theatrics such as rockets, firebreathing, and fake blood consumed/vomited by Gene Simmons. According to Wikipedia, KISS has been awarded 28 gold albums, the most for any American band. The original classic lineup for KISS consisted of Paul Stanley (guitar, vocals), Ace Frehley (lead guitar, vocals), Gene Simmons (bass guitar, vocals), and Peter Criss (drums, vocals).
What has captivated worldwide audiences for over 35 years now by KISS has been the elaborate stage makeup that the band members, up until their famous 1983 “unmasking”, were rarely seen without. Indeed, some fans would have preferred that the comic book illusion continued, while others thought it just added to the reality of the group. Not everyone is a fan of Gene Simmons in the cable reality TV series “Family Jewels”, and some thought Gene has come across as almost obnoxious. Anyway, the makeup, according to Kiss themselves, were from fan suggestions. Paul Stanley has the star on his face (Starchild), Gene Simmons has the garish Halloween-type makeup (Demon), Ace Frehley’s makeup and costuming suggested Alien worlds (Spaceman), and Peter Criss looked like a cat (Catman). KISS continues to tour and record to this day, but with only Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons from the original lineup. Ace Frehley and Peter Criss left in 1982 over creative differences, rejoined the group in 1996 and 1997 for high grossing worldwide tours, then left the band again shortly thereafter.
KISS began with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley in New York City in 1972 forming a group called Wicked Lester (see Wikipedia for this and the following information). They came across an ad in Rolling Stone placed by Peter Criss, and with Criss as an addition to the group shortly thereafter began experimenting with various costumes and stage theatrics, drawing upon American Glitter acts such as The New York Dolls and Alice Cooper. In 1973, the band added guitarist Ace Frehley; reportedly, the band came up with the name “Kiss” while driving around New York City. Criss mentioned that he had been in a band called “Lips” and Simmons suggested “What about ‘Kiss’?”, while Frehley drew the iconic logo, with the double “S” looking like lightning bolts. Because the double “S” also possibly connotated Nazism to some, the logo had to be modified in Germany. The first KISS performance, according to the band’s website, http://www.kissonline.com, was in a venue called “The Popcorn Club” in Queens 1973 to an audience of three people.
On March 13, 1973, the band recorded a five song demo tape and Bill Aucoin (former TV director) offered to become the band’s manager. The band entered Bell Sound Studios in New York City in October 1973 to begin recording their first album, and performed as an opening act for Blue Oyster Cult. It was during this concert when Simmons first set his hair ablaze in his firebreathing stunt onstage.
Kiss’ first album was entitled KISS and released Feb. 18, 1974 with hits “Nothin’ to Lose”, “Firehouse”, and “Black Diamond”. In 1974, the band performed “Firehouse” on the Mike Douglas Show, which featured an interview with Gene Simmons that made the studio audience fairly uncomfortable. The next album, Hotter than Hell, fared better (KISS initially only sold 75,000 copies) with the band’s now trademark song “Rock and Roll All Nite”. By 1975, the record label Casablanca was almost bankrupt, and the group needed a smash…which came in the form of their next release -a double live album set called Alive! which went to gold status, and almost every teenager in the 1970s would own.
The band’s history is quite extensive; for the most detailed timeline, see KISS’ website, http://www.kissonline.com. The group continued to gain more and more exposure, and worldwide fame, with the success of albums Destroyer (1976), Rock and Roll Over (1976), Love Gun (1977), and a second live album Alive II (1977). Between 1976 and 1978, KISS earned $17.7 million from recording royaties and publishing. In Japan, KISS performed five sold out shows breaking the Beatles record at the same venue.
KISS will embark on a 100 city worldwide tour following the release of their next album, Monster, due out June 2012.